Things You Should Never Store In The Bathroom

I understand that life gets busy and it’s easy to leave a trail of the items you’ve used throughout the day, around your home. In fact, I’m pretty much the queen of doing just that. My boyfriend will get home and say, “Looks like tornado Julia has been here.” I don’t even notice it. As I go about my routine, making my breakfast, getting dressed, walking the dog, and doing my work, I only have time to get ready for and do those things, but barely do I have time to clean up after myself. Because of that, my boyfriend might find my phone charger in the snacks pantry or the mail key in the medicine cabinet. While that’s quirky and rather funny, it can be not-so-funny when you drag the wrong things into the bathroom. That is a bacteria-laden area. Here are things you should never bring into the bathroom.

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Temperature sensitive medication

Certain medications, when exposed to temperature changes—particularly high temperature and humidity—can suffer a change in composition and become unusable. Just because it’s called a medicine cabinet doesn’t mean your meds should go in the cabinet above your bathroom mirror.

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Towels

If you can, keep your towels outside the bathroom, and only bring in the ones you need at the time of bathing/washing your face. Leaving them in the bathroom makes them susceptible to mold and mildew.

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Condoms

Hopefully you keep these bedside, where they’re most useful. But, you might keep your extra stock in the bathroom, under the sink. Unfortunately, the high temperatures that can occur in a bathroom can cause condoms to deteriorate.

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Reading material

You want to do some light reading while you’re on the toilet. So bring your book in there, and then bring it back out when you’re done, but don’t leave it in there. The humidity of the restroom can cause the pages to crinkle and deteriorate.

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Temperature sensitive perfume

Perfume should be stored at room temperature in order to retain its desired scent. Fragrances are very temperature sensitive and if they get too hot can turn sour or lose their smell entirely.

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Electronics

You like to do some scrolling while you’re on the toilet, or prop your laptop on the toilet lid to watch a show while you straighten your hair. But between water splashing from the sink and the open toilet bowl, this is a recipe for a ruined electronic.

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Nail polish

Though you may paint your nails in the bathroom because the lighting is best there, don’t store your polish in there. Nail polish is highly sensitive to temperature changes and can break down if it gets too hot, making it basically unusable.

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Food

This should go without saying, but don’t bring food into the bathroom. Maybe when you’re in a hurry you drag a piece of toast in there while applying makeup. But there are a lot of germs (read: fecal matter) in the air in there.

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Cups

A lot of people actually bring their mugs and cups in the bathroom. They sip their coffee while doing their hair or drink a glass of water while washing their face. But, again, there are some nasty germs floating around in that air.

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Mail

Maybe you think toilet time is a good time to open mail, and look through bills. But if you forget any of this mail in the bathroom, the humidity can quickly deteriorate it, making it impossible to read that important order confirmation number or payment confirmation number.

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Slippers

Your slippers are soft and not at all water-resistant. Leaving them in the bathroom makes it easy for them to get damp, and wearing damp slippers is one risk of urinary tract infections.

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The pill

We said you shouldn’t keep medication in your bathroom, but the birth control pill deserves special mention. The high temperatures can make the pill not work, either, which would be a disaster.

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Oil-based gel

Oil-based gels and hair pomades are supposed to be rather stiff and wax-like. Keeping them in the bathroom can cause them to melt due to high temperatures, and then they’re never quite the same again.

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Hamper

You put the hamper in the bathroom because it’s unsightly, and you don’t want guests to see it. But humidity plus the smell of dirty laundry is…not good.

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The dog bed

Don’t keep Fido’s bed in the bathroom because A) it’s cruel—he needs to roam and B) his bed, like your slippers, is susceptible to moisture which could leave your pup with a damp bed.